In 1909, a group of men came together and put forth the idea that Mansfield needed a mausoleum. John Weil and R.S. Barr where responsible for this project. Also on the board of trustees were F. H. Marquis, G. P. Krause and Huntington Brown. It was said Mansfield needed to keep up with communities like Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Columbus, Springfield, Ill, and others and that the mausoleum would “be perpetually cared for and maintained by an endowment fund, which will be placed in the hands of the association of the owners as trustees, the interest of this fund will be sufficient to pay all expenses of keeping up the building for all time.” The Mansfield Mausoleum Association began selling compartments immediately.
The Mansfield News, 19 JUN 1909
The Mansfield News, 10 JUL 1909
Two years later, in May of 1911, a contract was awarded to Simon Small & Sons to begin work at once on the mausoleum. John Weil designed the structure, which would hold 480 crypts, and it was located in the southwest part of the Mansfield Cemetery. Maps indicate it was located in block 34. A little less than a year later, in April of 1912, the public was invited to view the completed Mansfield Mausoleum. It was described as an “imposing structure … the exterior being if Bedford limestone and is 86 feet front by 54 feet deep. The inside is of marble of three different shades. The interior is lighted by cathedral windows which throw a softened light over the mosaic tile floor and the compartments.” The structure also included a “large chapel hall from which lead four burial halls on which face the sections of compartments.
Mansfield Cemetery from the WPA Cemetery Maps
Layout of Mausoleum from the WPA Cemetery Maps
The mausoleum was dedicated on April 28, 1912, at which the Rev. G. A. Kienle and Dr. D. J. Meese spoke and music was provided by the Temple Quartet. A large crowd visited the mausoleum on the rainy Sunday afternoon and hundreds had seen it since it was opened to the public two weeks prior. The first service to be held in the mausoleum was for John Henry Krause.
Around 1940, the building became a concern of the Mansfield Cemetery Association when the builders ceased to do anything about its upkeep. According to cemetery caretaker, Jon McGinty in 1962, “The Mansfield Mausoleum Co. … was to have given the Mansfield Cemetery Assn. a $45,000 endowment for it, but the money was not received.” The Cemetery Association tried to clean up the mausoleum and make repairs, but the cost of a thorough renovation would have been between $40,000 and $60,000 in 1962. It was decided this was not cost effective and the mausoleum was condemned and razed. The cemetery provided new burial plots for the deceased in the mausoleum.
No images of the mausoleum are available in the Sherman Room Archives. If anyone has any they would like to share, please do so on Facebook or submit them through our new Digital Archives site.
The Sherman Room at MRCPL 